House Majority Leader Accuses Some Jan. 6 Rioters of ‘Treason’
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) says that some of the rioters who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 are guilty of treason. During a speech on the House floor, Hoyer asked, “What happened on Jan. 6? What was…
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) says that some of the rioters who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 are guilty of treason.
During a speech on the House floor, Hoyer asked, “What happened on Jan. 6? What was the insurrection about? What were people coming into the Capitol saying, ‘Let’s hang the vice president of the United States? Not of our party.”
“You know, people shake their heads, I’m not sure why they’re shaking their heads. They saw it on television. They see it on the tapes over, and over, and over. They see people being convicted. I happen to think the sentences are too short. It was treason! It was treason based upon a lie,” he added.
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Rioters on Jan. 6 were reportedly saying they wanted to find and execute then-Vice President Mike Pence for not rejecting the Electoral College vote count. Some accused Pence of committing treason by not rejecting the count.
Merriam-Webster defines treason as, “The offense of attempting by overt acts to overthrow the government of the state to which the offender owes allegiance or to kill or personally injure the sovereign or the sovereign’s family.”
Hoyer also blasted some of his Republican colleagues for downplaying the violence that day, “Now I know that some of you had pictures of you in this House. You looked pretty terrified to me. You thought there was something serious happening. And this stuff that this was a tourist visit is absurd.”